Contact: Erika Castle, 719-481-2296

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., May 1 /Christian Newswire/ -- The growing acceptance of non-traditional church activities like attending house churches, participating in marketplace ministry and listening to religious radio broadcasts is an opportunity to strip down to the basics of 'making disciples', according to one Orange County-based church body.

With Barna Research showing more and more Christians accepting non-conventional church activities and locations as Biblically valid, many churches are experimenting with new locations, delivery styles and outreach methods.

But Pastor Ken Eastburn of The Well interprets the research a little differently. "This research sends a message that Christians are interested in more than just a different way of 'doing church'. They see a need to return to the basics of making disciples. The how and where are not important."

For The Well, stripping down to the basics meant leaving their traditional church building and becoming a community of house churches.

According to Eastburn, "God's Church is really just a group of people striving to become more like Jesus. And, we discovered that our dependence on a building was keeping us from doing that."

Since shedding its building in 2005, The Well has met in homes throughout the Orange County area. The congregates continue to carry on the responsibilities of other churches -- promoting spiritual growth, community, and outreach on both the global and local levels -- but are free from many of the administrative concerns and roadblocks other American churches face.

"Many churches struggle to be what God intended," continues Eastburn. "Things like mortgages, facility maintenance or even traditions imprison a church body from being the hands and feet of Christ. More than ever before, Christians are accepting that we don't need the trappings of conventional churches." So, The Well has decided to share its story with other churches on its blog, www.leavethebuildingblog.com, and encourages churches and individual Christians to ask themselves if they are ready to get 'back to the basics'.